Fewer workers seen to try luck in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): With ongoing layoffs and the prices of goods skyrocketing due to the economic crisis, many people, particularly blue-collar workers, will refuse to return to the capital after Idul Fitri, a noted sociologist said yesterday.

"Due to the crisis, I believe they have lost interest in coming back here. What kind of work is there for them? There are no more jobs available in the city," Paulus Wirutomo of University of Indonesia told The Jakarta Post.

As a result, many villages and towns -- especially in Java -- will be packed with people who used to live and earn money in Jakarta, he said.

He urged the government to implement labor-intensive projects in certain areas, particularly those that are well known as sources of labor for the capital.

These areas include Cirebon and Purwakarta in West Java, Tegal, Brebes and Surakarta in Central Java, and Pacitan and Malang in East Java, Paulus said.

"If the programs focus on the agricultural, husbandry and poultry sectors it could work well in those areas," he said. "The people would no longer desire to find jobs in Jakarta."

He said the current shortage of certain food items in Jakarta could be alleviated if workers produced the goods in their hometowns and later sold them to the capital.

"Those areas will eventually have a strong economic base and therefore locals should stay in their hometowns," Paulus explained.

The government has launched a Rp 33 billion labor-intensive program for public works in 30 mayoralties and regencies in Jakarta and West, Central and East Java.

The program, in an attempt to provide work for thousands of dismissed workers, was scheduled to start earlier this month and run for 80 days, winding up after the presidential election in March.

The local authorities in Jakarta, Tangerang and Bogor have started some of the programs but it is unclear whether other cities have followed suit.

The Jakarta administration has expressed its concern that an estimated 2.5 million people traveling out of the city for Idul Fitri this year will return to the capital with members of their extended family.

If that happens in the middle of the monetary crisis, Jakarta would be prone to rioting and more crime as finding a job becomes more difficult.

Some of the possible solutions include prohibiting those without proper identity cards from entering the city, in order to limit the influx of unwanted residents.

Commenting on the idea, Paulus said: "It's impossible to hold back people by checking ID cards. It's ridiculous. Jakarta is a metropolitan city. It's one of the consequences when a city is open to everyone."

The latest data gathered by the national Idul Fitri post reveals that 83,000 people departed the city yesterday before 6 p.m. via the train and bus stations, Soekarno Hatta Airport and Tanjung Priok Port.

And, according to city population agency data yesterday, 87,000 newcomers have entered the city this month.

The city administration had predicted that the number of people returning to their hometowns for Idul Fitri would reach 3.5 million but it has since been revised to 2.5 million people.

The significant drop in holidaymakers, traditionally made up of blue-collar workers, was mainly due to people's fears of losing their jobs and a shortage of cash, several low-income workers told the Post yesterday.

Sunariah, a 33-year-old servant at a residence in Cikini, Central Jakarta, said: "My brother already lost his job as a construction worker. And I don't want to face the same misery.

"I don't want to go back home to Brebes in Central Java because I fear I will lose my job... what if my employer didn't want me when I returned?

"There is nothing to do back home, so it's better that I stay here," she said.

Rachmat, a construction worker at a cable construction site on Jl. MH Thamrin, in Central Jakarta, said: "Join the exodus? No way... I don't have any money to take to my family. I'm lucky to still have a job here. I'm ashamed to go home without bringing any oleh-oleh (souvenirs)."

Muhtadi, a taxi driver, shared the views of his fellow Jakartan.

"I'd better stay here and look for money instead of heading home without any money," he said.

"I don't want to go home because the transportation fee is already too expensive... so I finally chose to mail money to my family in Pacitan." (edt)